Know What's Happening in GovTech
Know What's Happening in GovTech
Pakistan’s National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has issued official guidance confirming that its digital identity credentials, including the Pak ID, are legally equivalent to physical CNICs. Under the NADRA Digital Identity Regulations 2025, public authorities and service providers are mandated to accept digital IDs, and refusals violate the National Database and Registration Authority Ordinance 2000. The guidance also highlights recent amendments adding QR‑based verification and stronger biometric controls, enabling future authentication technologies without further legal changes. NADRA urges citizens to report non‑compliance and stresses that digital IDs reduce photocopy usage and protect personal data.
State and local governments can boost IT efficiency by overhauling three pillars: legacy code, infrastructure spending, and edge computing. Outdated, siloed applications inflate maintenance budgets, while open‑source and platform consolidation can slash costs and improve citizen services. Flexible cloud governance...
The latest NVIDIA AI processors are forcing federal agencies to confront unprecedented power and cooling requirements. Agencies must secure trusted partners or conduct assessments to size generators, UPS systems, and transfer switches, while private‑sector spenders are willing to invest over...
Leslie Beavers, former Deputy CIO of the Department of Defense, now leads LB Insights to guide firms through the “valley of death” that separates tech innovation from operational deployment. At the Pentagon she helped launch digital modernization programs such as...
Gov. Greg Abbott signed legislation creating Texas Cyber Command, which officially launched in September 2025 and is housed at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Led by Ret. Admiral TJ White, the command is legally required to build an...
“As a work of the United States government, this project is in the public domain within the United States of America. Additionally, we waive copyright and related rights in the work worldwide through the CC0 1.0 Universal public domain dedication.” The first...
Internet monitoring group NetBlocks reported a nation‑scale outage in the Republic of Congo coinciding with the presidential election, echoing a similar three‑day blackout in 2021. The shutdown occurred despite the telecom regulator ARPCE’s recent directives urging service continuity and resilience....
In this episode, OPM Director Scott Cooper outlines a bold agenda to modernize federal hiring and build a high‑performance workforce. He highlights three core challenges: a demographic imbalance that leaves the federal workforce under‑represented among early‑career talent, outdated performance management...
Beeline Kazakhstan launched Orman‑AI, an AI‑driven forest fire monitoring platform, in 2022. The system deploys more than 100 video‑surveillance cameras across Astana and six key regions, continuously scanning for fire signatures. Since its inception, Orman‑AI has prevented over 100 forest...
GeoComm unveiled Conversion Services, a new offering that accelerates the creation of indoor GIS maps by more than 50%, turning PDFs and other legacy floor plans into dynamic, data‑rich layers. The service targets 911 centers, public‑safety agencies, and municipal GIS...
L3Harris introduced the XL‑300P, a redesigned P25 handheld that adds a built‑in LTE‑5G modem and satellite direct‑to‑device (NTN) capability. The device can switch among P25, Wi‑Fi, commercial LTE bands—including Band 106—and T‑Mobile’s Starlink‑backed satellite service, with an AI‑driven selector that chooses...
Duplo, a Nigerian B2B payments platform, secured Systems Integrator and Access Point Provider licences from the Nigeria Revenue Service. The dual licences let the company generate NRS‑compliant e‑invoices, transmit them automatically, and settle payments within its platform. Nigeria’s digital tax...
The Department for Work and Pensions will replace the 30‑year‑old case‑management platform that underpins Access to Work with a modern, integrated system in June. The upgrade is designed to connect three existing modules, eliminate re‑keying, and improve data collection, aiming...
The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has issued two high‑profile ICT tenders ahead of the 2026 local elections. The first calls for a complete redevelopment of its public mobile app, citing an obsolete framework, security flaws and the need for better...
Open Rights Group released a legal opinion examining the UK Home Office’s use of generative AI tools—ACS and APS—in refugee status determinations. The opinion highlights that the tools produced inaccurate summaries in up to 9% of cases, lack transparent oversight,...
On World Consumer Rights Day, a coalition of civil‑society groups, led by EDRi, urged the European Commission to adopt an ambitious Digital Fairness Act (DFA). The letter argues that current EU rules—GDPR, DSA and DMA—do not cover manipulative design, addictive...
A new report by the Partnership for Public Service and Inclusive Abundance urges Congress to act to accelerate AI adoption across federal agencies. It finds that workforce gaps, talent shortages, fragmented communication, and legacy IT systems are slowing progress. The...
The Liberian Registry, the world’s largest ship registry, announced the rollout of electronic seafarer documents. The new system, featuring QR‑coded digital certificates and the SEA360 mobile app, will complement existing hard‑copy paperwork while enabling faster, secure verification. Integrated into the...
From 10 April 2026 the EU’s Entry/Exit System (EES) will replace passport stamps with an automated biometric registration for non‑EU visitors across all 29 Schengen states. The system captures facial images and fingerprints, linking them to passport data to create a digital...
The UK government launched the Digital Commercial Centre of Excellence (DCCOE) last year to centralise technology and digital services procurement across departments. Staffed by about 24 officials, the hub has already delivered roughly an 11% cost reduction on a large‑scale...
West Sussex County Council has pushed the Oracle Fusion HR and payroll rollout to October 2026, marking a five‑year delay and a cost explosion from the original £2.6 million estimate to roughly £41 million. The project, intended to replace an aging SAP system...
Sidebrief, a regulatory‑tech platform, has launched Signal, a quarterly event series co‑hosted with Diligence Africa and Impact Hub Lagos. The inaugural edition will take place on March 27, 2026, at Impact Hub Lagos and features 20 speakers across five moderated...
The Philippine Senate passed the Law Enforcement Body‑worn Camera Act, mandating police, NBI, BJMP and PDEA officers to wear cameras that meet 1080p, audio, GPS and timestamp standards, with heavy penalties for non‑compliance. The measure aims to boost transparency and...
Baltimore announced TJ Mayotte as its new Chief Information Officer, taking charge of the city’s Information Technology Office. Mayotte arrives with more than two decades of government technology and cybersecurity leadership, most recently serving as CIO for Howard County with...
Lea Eriksen, Long Beach’s technology director since 2014, will depart next month to become Senior Assistant City Manager in Culver City. During her tenure, the Department of Technology and Innovation grew to nearly 200 staff, managed a $90 million annual budget,...
The UK government has launched an online address checker that lets businesses and households verify whether they are slated for a gigabit broadband upgrade under the Project Gigabit scheme. The programme, funded with £5 billion, now brings gigabit‑capable service to more than...
President Bola Tinubu has ordered a community‑driven rollout of National Identification Number (NIN) registration to reach Nigeria’s 774 local government areas, focusing on rural and underserved communities. The Niger Delta Basin Development Authority’s CEO, Ebitimi Amgbare, highlighted that the decentralized,...
The City of Cape Town’s Strategic Surveillance Unit has expanded its CCTV network to over 1,200 cameras, with 85% of installations completed by mid‑February and a R14.4 million investment this fiscal year. New cameras were deployed in high‑crime suburbs such as...
President Donald Trump signed an executive order threatening legal and financial pressure on states with what he calls “burdensome” AI regulations, singling out California’s Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act (SB 53). SB 53, effective January 2026, obliges large developers of frontier AI...
Kenya’s government plans to introduce a national taxi pricing model that will mandate standardized fares for ride‑hailing platforms such as Uber and Bolt. The policy seeks to curb aggressive price wars and provide drivers with more predictable earnings while potentially...
Armenia’s Information Systems Agency (ISAA) is reshaping digital government by organizing services around 12 “life events” that span multi‑year citizen journeys, from pregnancy to citizenship. Led by Arusyak Martirosyan, the agency adopts a “conducting without dominating” model, coordinating ministries through...
HMRC has quietly built a mobile‑phone surveillance capability, signing a 2021 contract with Cellxion for IMSI‑catcher equipment worth £330,460 and later paying £102,000 for software licences. The tax authority uses the gear, installed in vehicles by Sonic Communications, to locate...
The Home Office has renamed its Digital, Data and Technology division to Home Office Digital, signalling a shift from a support function to a core operational pillar. Chief Digital, Data and Technology Officer Rob Thompson highlighted milestones such as 48‑hour...
Six months after its autumn launch, Wales' new StatsWales open data service has rolled out a suite of user‑driven enhancements. A searchable interface and refined filtering now let users locate and slice datasets faster, while the previous limit on simultaneous...
Victoria’s public‑transport authority is piloting a contactless “tap and go” ticketing system on its City Loop, Craigieburn, Upfield, Ballarat and Seymour train lines. Full‑fare passengers can tap on and off using Mastercard, Visa, smartphones or smartwatches, eliminating the need for...
Union Telecom Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia inaugurated India’s first integrated phygital service centre in Umri village, Guna district, Madhya Pradesh. The Samriddh Gram Phygital Services Pilot combines healthcare, education, agriculture, financial and e‑governance services under one roof, powered by BharatNet’s high‑speed...
Thailand’s Department of Disease Control has signed an MoU with the National Science and Technology Development Agency to digitally consolidate the nation’s disease surveillance system. The partnership will build big‑data, AI‑driven platforms and strengthen personnel capabilities to shift from reactive...
The article argues that hyperscale cloud providers and frontier AI firms are evolving from mere vendors into critical components of national security infrastructure. By storing intelligence, processing operational data, and delivering high‑performance computing, they enable modern defence and critical‑infrastructure missions...
Bank Negara Malaysia has issued a new Technology Risk Management Policy for payment service providers, consolidating existing tech‑related requirements into a single framework. The policy introduces a tiered, proportional approach that aligns security and resilience obligations with the size and...
Vietnam is expanding digital technologies across all stages of election management to deliver information quickly, accurately, and securely. Chairman Tran Thanh Man highlighted how real‑time monitoring, automated verification, and integrated voter databases improve coordination between central and local authorities. The rollout...
The Australian Taxation Office has released agency‑wide guidance governing the authorised use and liability of artificial intelligence. The policy encourages staff to leverage AI tools, such as those that draft briefs for ministers, while imposing strict governance, risk‑management and accountability...
NSW cabinet secretary Kate Boyd issued clarification on the use of disappearing messages by public servants, outlining carve‑out rules for government record‑keeping. The guidance responds to growing reliance on burn‑after‑read features in apps such as WhatsApp and Signal, which have...
Data centers have become a wedge issue in the 2026 midterm races, pitting economic growth arguments against rising utility costs for voters. In Michigan, Democrat Jocelyn Benson pushes for water‑use and energy‑cost regulations while Republican Tom Leonard calls for a...
Malaysia's Transport Ministry is deploying advanced technology—including drones, enforcement action cameras, body‑worn cameras, smart management devices and dash cams—to monitor traffic during the two‑week Aidilfitri period ending March 29. A heavy‑vehicle ban will be enforced on March 19‑20 and March...
The UK government announced it will design and operate a national digital ID and wallet in‑house, reflecting growing public preference for state‑run solutions over big‑tech providers. Sweden is set to launch a government‑issued e‑ID that will rank highest under eIDAS,...
David Harvilicz, the DHS assistant secretary for cyber, infrastructure, risk and resilience policy, oversees federal election security while publicly calling for a ban on voting machines. He co‑founded Tranquility AI with James Penrose, a figure linked to debunked 2020 election...
The Danville Fire Department partnered with the Danville Emergency Communications Center to launch PulsePoint Respond, a free mobile app that alerts CPR‑trained citizens to nearby cardiac arrests. The service taps into the department’s 8,000‑call annual volume, which included 49 cardiac...
The Centre’s Haryana fertilizer pilot linked subsidised sales to the state’s MFMB portal, using PoS devices and biometric or OTP verification. During the last Rabi season, urea use dropped 10.9% and DAP 24.9%, saving roughly ₹700.53 crore in subsidies. Average purchases...
ServiceNow announced new AI‑powered government solutions at its March 5, 2026 Government Forum. The flagship offering, ServiceNow EmployeeWorks, combines Moveworks’ conversational AI with the ServiceNow Employee Center to let public‑sector employees submit requests and trigger workflows via natural language. The company also...
The UK Treasury will urge the NHS and Ministry of Defence to purchase British artificial‑intelligence and robotics solutions as part of a broader growth plan amid the Iran crisis. Chancellor Rachel Reeves will outline three strategic pillars – deeper EU...
